“I think that at times, he doubts that statement.” Rarity smiled. “Thank you, though. I should have thought that maybe Todd would get the wrong idea and I could’ve warned you.”
“It’s a bump to any older man’s ego to have someone think you’ve caught a pretty young thing. Just don’t tell Edith I said that.” He smiled as they brought out the food. “They’re always so fast here. I wanted to tell you what I found out about Talia Brooks.”
“Anything useful?”
“Well, Drew told me about the Netflix thing, and you were right. A quick call to her agent asking if she was being considered wiped that off the board. The agent wasn’t too happy that rumors were circulating since they were trying to get her a new role now. If producers thought she’d already accepted something, they wouldn’t offer and probably wouldn’t let her audition. He got off our call quickly, saying he needed to clean up this mess.” Jonathon talked in the moments he wasn’t devouring his enchiladas.
Rarity had a chicken taco salad that was so good, she wanted to eat the entire shell. “So she was just trying to get attention at the showing. She seems to like that a lot. Was Drew able to verify if she and Mason were getting back together?”
“Drew no, but I have a friend in the LAPD. His wife has a gossip blog. I guess they call her an influencer now. He told me over drinks one night that she makes more money from advertisers than he does after almost fifteen years at the department. But he has benefits, she doesn’t. Match made in heaven. Anyway, she said there were some rumors going around about Mason and another girl. Someone who worked for him a few months ago. Then last month, Talia announced that they’re back together and she’s moving to his mini mansion in the valley. Daisy, that’s the wife, she talked to Mason, and he confirmed the Talia thing, but told her that the other thing was bogus. False news.”
“Or,”—Rarity was beginning to see between the lines—“Talia found out he was moving on and nixed it. Then came home.”
“That was my take. And Daisy’s. She said Talia’s one of those who doesn’t want something unless someone else has it.”
As she finished her salad, she thought about what Jonathon had found out. Talia and Mason had been reuniting. Yet, when Rarity had talked to her that night at dinner, she’d mentioned Bret, and him going home for an audition. And that he’d only come because he needed to see her. Rarity needed to go back to her notes after she’d talked to Talia and see if she’d written down exactly what Talia had said. And if Bret was here the night that Mason died. Maybe he wasn’t happy with Talia’s new plans and had changed them?
Chapter 19
When Rarity got back to the bookstore, it was crowded. Some of the kids were still hanging out, waiting to be picked up by their parents. Katie was near the fireplace watching them. In addition, a line of customers curled through the bookshelves to buy books. Rarity hurried over and tucked her bag under the table. Jonathon had dropped her off and gone to check in with Drew to do more work on the Talia and Mason connection.
“What’s going on?” Rarity asked Shirley as she bagged a book and handed it and the receipt to the customer.
“The film festival announced that they’re doing a raffle tonight and tickets are given to anyone who brings a new book for the schools affected by the wildfires in California this year,” Shirley said. “Did you know about this?”
“Not a clue,” Rarity said, bagging the next customer’s book.
“The announcement was in the paper this morning. If you win the grand prize, you get two thousand dollars, five nights in a hotel, and tickets to the movies for all five days. And a Hollywood tour of the town, the movie studios, and a day at Disneyland. My kids would kill to go to Disneyland. Each person gets a raffle ticket if they bring a new book. Two, if they bring five,” the next customer excitedly told them. “I’m surprised they didn’t warn you.”
“Wow.” Rarity looked at the line. Several of the people had five books in their hands. It was going to be a really good month, but she was going to have to do some serious restocking soon. “Hold on a second, I’ll bring out the second register.”
It took Rarity just a few minutes to get set up. “I can take credit cards.” She held up her hand, and several people jumped over to start a new line.
Over an hour later, they were down to just a few people in line. Shirley glanced at her watch. “I hate to ask, but it’s four.”
“Go, get out of here. Katie and I can finish this up. The kids are all gone, right?” Rarity rolled her shoulders and saw Katie’s nod. “Shirley, I’ll see you at the closing ceremony. Oh, I feel like a jerk because I haven’t thought about asking, but how’s George? Everything okay?”
“He’s doing fine. He’s back at the home, but Kathy is with him. She’s hanging out for another week, at least. I saw him this morning. He’s sleeping a lot.” Shirley closed her eyes. “Nope, I’m not going to cry. I’ll go over tonight after the event and Kathy can head to my house to sleep. He’s going to need to try.”
“I’m sure he’s trying,” Rarity said. She wasn’t sure exactly what to say at this point.
Shirley patted her arm. “Let’s all think good thoughts.”
As they were closing up the store, a woman ran into the store. “I’m glad I caught you.”
“We’ll be closing soon,” Rarity lied since they already should have been closed, but she didn’t want to be rude. And they weren’t open tomorrow, so if the woman needed reading material for the weekend, it was her last shot. “Can I help you find something?”
“Oh, no. I’m Gretchen Wiler. I’m Sedona’s connection with the film festival. I hear we threw you a curveball today. My assistant was supposed to contact you and tell you about the giveaway months ago when this was planned, but I guess she forgot. Anyway, I apologize if the run on books was overwhelming.”
“On one hand, I should be thanking you. I’m going to have a good month and I probably need some roof work done. But yes, it was a little overwhelming. Nothing we couldn’t handle, but I was short staffed without notice.” Rarity tried not to sound like she was complaining. She knew she was going to be happy about the profit, but she also needed to do something nice for Katie and Shirley.
“Well, my sister-in-law called me after she’d left the bookstore and told me you were shocked about the giveaway and about the line. I really apologize. I know you like giving excellent service, and…” Gretchen paused as she noticed a flyer with the next book club date. “And you also had one of your book clubs this Saturday. This is why I told Angie to get in touch with you. Anyway, I apologize again. Are you coming tonight? I’d love to buy you and any member of your staff a drink at the event.”
“We are coming.” Rarity turned to Katie. “Are you staying at Darby’s?”
“We’re all coming together.” Katie grinned as her phone buzzed. “The pizza’s at the house if it’s okay for me to leave.”
“Go ahead. I’ll see you at the event,” Rarity said as she turned back to Gretchen. “We survived, so no worries. I’m sure the girls would love a free drink.”
